Special Features:--presents the only book-length treatment of the crucial yet neglected topic of unconscious motivations for practicing psychotherapy --provides an extensive literature review spanning Drive Theory, Self Theory, and Object Relations Theory --includes discussion of the results of an author-conducted study of clinicians that explores such issues as vocational choice, experience as a therapist and as a patient, family background, and personal development

New to the Second Edition: --Foreward by Karen J. Maroda, Ph.D., assistant clinical professor of Psychiatry, Medical College of Wisconsin --Introduction by the author, emphasizing how recent trends in clinical theory and practice indicate that the book's topic is more important than ever --Afterword by the author that updates the literature review and addresses recent hot-button issues such as therapist self-disclosure and enactment

A Curious Calling was originally published by Jason Aronson in 1992 and featured as a Main Selection in the Psychotherapy Book News. It garnered favorable reviews in numerous professional journals, including: The British Journal of Psychiatry, The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, The Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, Contemporary Psychology, and Psychoanalytic Books: A Quarterly Review of Journals.

About the Author:

Michael B. Sussman, Psy.D., is a clinical psychologist in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Sussman has worked in private practice and as a clinical instructor at Harvard University. He is the editor of A Perilous Calling: The Hazards of Psychotherapy Practice and the author of a children's picture book, Otto Grows Down.

Book Description Jason Aronson Inc. Publishers, United States, 2007. Paperback. Condition: New. Second Edition. Language: English. Brand new Book. "What brings you here?" is the standard question posed to patients at the outset of their therapeutic journey. In A Curious Calling, this question is posed to therapists themselves. Applicants to psychotherapy training programs commonly state that they wish "to help people"-but this tells us very little. What are the unconscious factors underlying the decision to become a psychotherapist? Guilt, compassion, a sense of moral duty, a sense of power? Or a wish to be needed, or to enjoy vicariously the prospect of receiving aid and comfort? For each individual with a "need to help" there exists a unique constellation of underlying motives and aims. Without exploring and facing up to these hidden sources of motivation, therapists run the risk of exploiting patients for their own needs. The only comprehensive text on this topic, Sussman's book presents a survey of motivations to practice psychotherapy, through an extensive review of the available literature and discussion of the results of a qualitative study of therapists conducted by the author. Seller Inventory # AAZ9780765705525